5 Moments In Episodes 17-18 Of "Our Blooming Youth" Where Hong Soo Hyun Plants Discord

Things have finally begun to hurtle along in this week’s episodes of “Our Blooming Youth.” With almost every part of the conspiracy centering on Byeokcheon in the open, our team of sleuths grows closer to the truth by the second. But there wouldn’t be tension if they knew everything. The identity of the mastermind behind it all remains hidden, and she’s about to stir up quite a storm. Here are five moments when the show’s big villain sows discord with only a few words.

Warning: spoilers for episodes 17-18 below.

1. When she had her own son drugged

Last week, we witnessed the start of the Queen’s (Hong Soo Hyun) plan to get rid of Princess Hayeon (Jung Da Eun). Hayeon’s an accidental witness to the fact that the Queen’s son, Prince Myung Ahn (Im Han Bin), was the one who gave peaches to Lee Hwan’s (Park Hyung Sik) older brother, the former Crown Prince Ui Hyeon (Lee Ha Yul), and ended up killing him. Determined to stop any and all word of this from leaking to the palace and to help erase her son’s nightmares, the Queen enlists the help of Monk Moojin (Jung In Kyum), who was behind the poisoning and drugging of the shaman and Min Jae Yi’s (Jeon So Nee) childhood friend Shim Young (Kim Woo Seok).

Hwan, Jae Yi, Ga Ram (Pyo Ye Jin), and Kim Myung Jin (Lee Tae Sun) start to piece things together right as the Queen’s plan is being enacted. They decipher that the burnt peony petals found in Jae Yi’s home and the shaman’s brazier were being used to drug people and implant false memories in their head. For Shim Young, it was that he and Jae Yi were lovers. The result of this quasi-mind control is that the hair of the affected person turns white. Moojin gets started on doing this to Myung Ahn to wipe away that he accidentally caused Prince Ui Hyeon’s death. The result turns Myung Ahn’s hair snow white afterwards, horrifying everyone in the palace who sees him. But the Queen doesn’t seem to care. She has bigger troubles on her plate.

2. When she attempted to have Princess Hayeon killed

The Queen had another plan going on in addition to healing Myung Ahn that night: to get rid of Princess Hayeon. While Moojin works on Myung Ahn, the Queen planned to have her head maid vanish and leave Hayeon alone, an easy target. Tae Gang’s (Heo Won Seo) twin brother, San (Heo Won Seo), attempts to kill Princess Hayeon. The plan fails, but only because of Han Sung On (Yoon Jong Seok). It turns out that the princess enlisted his aid prior to secretly leaving the palace to see Moojin’s aid. San escapes but without having completed his mission, and Sung On is able to slice San’s shoulder, leaving an identifiable mark. He confronts Moojin for his role in attempting to kill Hayeon, and Moojin takes his own life after manically predicting the downfall of the current royal family. That’s one child drugged, one nearly killed, one monk dead, and one assassin injured. All because of the Queen. But she doesn’t seem to care.

3. When she hid the truth that Prince Myung Ahn and Jo Wo Bo caused Prince Ui Hyeon’s death

Something that’s been both realistic and frustrating in this show is that Jae Yi and Hwan are always a step behind. Myung Ahn and Jo Won Bo (Jung Woong In) causing Prince Ui Hyeon’s death is a crucial missing piece that only Jae Yi and Hayeon have. Yet, she doesn’t share this with Hwan, which means that he’s left in the dark as he visits Prince Myung Ahn and witnesses the Queen fawning over Hayeon, pretending to care that she was nearly killed.

Hwan buys the act immediately, but had he known that the Queen was aware of Prince Ui Hyeon’s death and kept this from the rest of the palace, he would have been suspicious when she didn’t mention the source of Myung Ahn’s nightmares. Instead, he refuses to entertain the possibility that the Queen could be involved. That’s dangerous because it allows a major villain to run about unfettered. And the Queen fully intends to wreck havoc.

4. When she revealed to Sung On that Go Sun Dol was Jae Yi

Still, Hwan, Jae Yi, and Sung On are getting a little too close to the truth for the Queen’s liking. So, she does the one thing guaranteed to tear them apart: reveal Jae Yi’s identity to Sung On. It’s almost comical how quickly this reveal goes down. Sung On buys it instantly, realizing how Jae Yi didn’t behave the way he expected a man to behave (which is a little stereotypical). And he makes the cardinal mistake of rushing over to Jae Yi and asking her to leave the palace and come to him, so he can protect her.

She tells him that she appreciates how he listened to her and always took her seriously. Yet, Sung On isn’t thinking straight and tells her that the contract between their families is still valid and that he expects her to do the right thing by law. Jae Yi’s left in shock, and Hwan overhears the whole thing. Sung On sees him and knows he does. He tells Hwan that he trusts that Hwan will let her go when the time is right. Hwan tries to tell Sung On that Jae Yi is a human being with her own opinions and dreams and not an object to be passed between them. But Sung On isn’t too keen on listening. There’s a potential tragic character in the making here, and that would be a real shame, for a guy who’s been pretty great so far. Here’s hoping that the final episodes show him learning to let Jae Yi go and not taking an arrow/poison/knife for her. Sung On deserves better! After all, we already have one member of his family dead.

5. When she killed the princess chosen to be Hwan’s wife

In what has to be the biggest and most insane thing the Queen has done yet (a shame in a character that seemed so gracious thus far), she has Han So Eun (Han So Eun), Hwan’s bride-to-be, killed. Jae Yi realizes this too late when she finds a copy of the ghost-sent letter Hwan receive and realizes that a different set of lines is now in red – lines that state that he’ll be left alone forever. And, of course, Hwan isn’t in the Palace at this time so Jae Yi has to race off on her own to the soon-to-be Crown Princess’s quarters. Granted, unbeknownst to Hwan who had no say in this marriage, Han So Eun would have been deposed anyway on account of her mother having passed away (the Crown Princess is supposed to come from a family with both parents). But it’s still horrifying when Jae Yi finds the girl stabbed to death in her bed, with Jae Yi’s dagger left there to frame her. At the same time, Hwan finally realizes that the Queen was in the best position to orchestrate every strange thing that’s been happening in the palace thus far. And he discovers that Jae Yi’s father may have been part of the whole Byeokcheon conspiracy. But on which side?

And of course, we leave off on this cliffhanger. This week’s episodes were really the Queen racing toward her plans of revenge while Hwan and Jae Yi strain to catch up. Given the extent of her reach in the palace, it makes sense that she would be so far ahead of them and why no one saw the truth until now. But it’s still a slightly frustrating watch, especially since our main couple was so far behind. Speaking of our coupe, they continue to refuse to utter a word of their feelings. It’s all beautiful longing looks, but Park Hyung Sik and Jeon So Nee have great chemistry so it’s such a shame to not see them being able to use it more. There’s something inherently exciting about being the only person so close to the Crown Prince, and dramas like “The Forbidden Marriage” have used a similar conceit to a much more exciting extent, but “Our Blooming Youth” just doesn’t seem to want to do so. Here’s hoping the finale will give us some good old romance! We can’t just waste all these heart eyes!

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Shalini_A is a long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and attempts to write the greatest fantasy romance of all time. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!

Currently Watching:  “Our Blooming Youth,” “Call It Love, “Taxi Driver 2.”
Looking Forward to: “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938,” “Gyeonseong Creature,” “Ask The Stars,” “The Girl Downstairs,” The Worst Evil,” “Black Knight,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Demon,” “Dr. Romantic 3,” “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s next drama.